Alternative to shredding sensitive documents
Remember the mess Marcia Cross had to deal with because she did not shred documents? Like most Americans, I still get a lot of junk mail (I have already told the marketing companies to not send me any unsolicited mail) and all kinds of sensitive documents (credit card, brokerage, bank statements, etc.) even though I have maximized my online banking and stock trading. For instance, for reasons I do not understand Chase Bank and CitiBank keep sending me checks to take a cash advance even though I pay all my bills on time and unless they know something I do not know, I am financially solid and have no need to borrow cash from my credit card company.
Shredding documents: Over the years I have simply shredded my documents and mixed them up with garbage and thrown them away. That is the safest option. What I realized over time is that even the best document shredders go bad over time and replacing them can cost almost $200. They get jammed, overheated, and eventually stop working.
Turn paper into pulp: I got this idea from a family in which they use papier-mâché for crafts for kids. I found that I could turn this wastepaper into a pulp and then once all the sensitive information is gone, deal with one of the many ways that I will discuss below. What you will notice on each piece of mail or credit card receipt is that the sensitive information is only in a small part of the paper. So tear that part out and throw away the rest in your regular paper recycle bin. You could probably use the whole paper for pulping but I think this option is better. Now you can collect these bits of paper in a plastic bucket. Once you are ready to dispose them off, simply add water. Let it soak for several days. You can mix it up every day and break the paper pieces if you wish, but in a few days, you will see the paper getting weak and wet. If you boil this for about half an hour, it will become a pulp easily but unless you want to make crafts out of this, there is no need. Once you have the pulp, you can drain the water, and dispose the pulp either in your compost pit (if you are very rigid about 100% organic compost then this is not an option since the paper always has very nasty chemicals like chlorine) or simply in your regular garbage. This disposal method is free and I never have to buy a shredder again.
Global warming dance
Since the deniers of global warming would not pay attention to facts and logic, there is no choice for us in the environmental community but to use humor and drama to convince morons that climate change is real and spells disaster. Here is a very beautiful video of hot supermodels taking it all off in the name of global warming in the same spirit as celebrities take their clothes off for PETA.
What appliances are greener?
Without our even realizing it, we end up consuming a lot more electricity in just the appliances and devices that we are so dependent on, for example, cell phones, television, camcorders, dishwashers, and others. As the technology has improved, however, it is now possible to buy electronics that are more energy efficient. So who does it better than others? Greenpeace has developed this chart that shows what brands to buy.